First Time Out exhibition – in pictures

First Time Out exhibition – in pictures

Ten previously hidden objects, weird, wonderful and beautiful by turn, go on display in First Time Out, a unique collaboration in which 10 museums and galleries each exhibit an artefact from their archives that has never been seen before. Artefacts will be switched between partnered venues midway through the project, with fresh interpretations provided by the new hosts

Tuesday 21 May 2013 14.40 EDT
First published on Tuesday 21 May 2013 14.40 EDT

A cigar holder representing the coronation of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Ornately carved from meerschaum, a versatile clay-like material typically used in traditional pipe making, this extravagant piece was made in 1864 to celebrate Ludwig's coronationPhotograph: Science Museum/Wellcome Images

A dolphin skull with scrimshaw decoration. The Natural History Museum inherited this skull in 1936 from the private collection of Baron Rothschild. It has never been on display because it came with no information and did not fit with other specimens in the galleriesPhotograph: Jonathan Jackson/The Natural History Museum, London

A working model of a guillotine made from cow bone, crafted by POWs at Norman Cross prison camp near Peterborough during the Napoleonic wars in the early 19th centuryPhotograph: John Moore (c) Vivacity Culture and Leisure

Torso – Woman, Bath Stone, by Eric Gill, 1931. Made soon after Gill began direct carving of stone figures and around the time of converting to Catholicism, the sculpture highlights Gill’s mastery of linear expression and is evidence of his interest in medieval religious art, Egyptian, Greek and Indian sculpturePhotograph: (c) The Estate of Eric Gill

A set of 10 ivory mathematical puzzles in a black lacquer box, made in China, 1800s. As trade opened up between China and Europe in the early 1800s, items such as these were brought back as gifts and souvenirs from the far east Photograph: (c) Science Museum

The Fool’s Bauble, a prop for an RSC production of King Lear in 2007. Designed by Christopher Oram, the prop was made to look like Sylvester McCoy who played the Fool in the productionPhotograph: Gina Print (c) RSC

The rough-toothed dolphin skull. The drawings are a craft known as scrimshaw, specific to crews of long-haul whaling ships. Sailors spent the long days at sea decorating bones and teeth from their catches. They used needles from their sewing kits to scour the designs, then coloured them in with ink or dyePhotograph: The Natural History Museum, London